Apparatus for transporting vehicles



July 23, 1968 H. 8. JAMES APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING VEHICLES OriginalFiled Oct. 4, 1965 INVENTOR. HENRY 8. JJQMES United States Patent3,393,935 APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING VEHICLES Henry B. James, 11881Stephanie Lane, Garden Grove, Calif. 92640 Original application Oct. 4,1965, Ser. No. 492,457, now Patent No. 3,348,710, dated Oct. 24, 1967.Divided and this application June 5, 1967, Ser. No. 644,759

2 Claims. (Cl. 294-67) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus forsupporting a vehicle during unloading of the vehicle from a ship, andwhich include a substantially rectangular hoisting platform withtreadways for the tires of the vehicle, with wheel openings having wheelsupports therein for releasing the vehicle wheels from the wheelopenings when the platform is lowered onto a fiat surface.

This application is a division of my copending patent application,entitled, Method for Transporting Vehicles, filed Oct. 4, 1965, Ser. No.492,457, now Patent No. 3,348,710.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting vehiclesand more particularly to an apparatus for unloading vehicles from atransporting vessel at dockside.

At the present time vehicles such as automobiles are commonly unloadedfrom transporting vessels through the use of four wheel hooks which formpart of a piece of equipment known as the spider gear. In this methodthe automobiles are unloaded from the vessel hold through cargo hatchopenings by six men stationed in the hold. These men push or pull one ofthe automobiles into position beneath the hatch opening and four of themen then place the wheel hooks on the four wheels of the automobile inengagement with the treads.

The four wheel hooks are carried by four wire cables or spider slingswhich extend upwardly and are attached to the four corners of arectangular spider framework or spreader. From the spreader the fourslings extend further upwardly in an apex and are attached at the apexto the lower end of a usual cargo fall. As is well known to thoseskilled in the art, the cargo fall is raised and lowered by a winch andlaterally positioned by a boom and associated tackle.

The cargo fall and boom are operated to raise the automobile out of thevessel hold by the wheel hooks, and then to lower it onto the unloadingdock. The wheel hook attachment procedure is now reversed, four menbeing required to disengage the hooks and hold them clear until thespider gear is raised out of the way by the winch. The vehicle is nextmoved to an intermediate or parking area for temporary storage. Sincethevehicle is usually not fueled, this move requires one man to drive atowing vehicle and another man to steer the towed automobile. These samemen must then push or pull the automobile into its proper parkingposition. Certain types of vehicles cannot even be towed, but must behand-pushed, which requires additional manpower.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there is a great deal of wastemotion and inefi'icient utilization of manpower. The attachment anddetachment of the wheel hooks is particularly time consuming andwasteful of man hours. Each wheel hook must be handled by a separateman, and the wheel hooks do not always release quickly and easil It isan object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for reducingcargo handling costs in the unloading of vehicles from a transportingvessel at dock- "ice side by using fewer men and by substantiallyreducing the number of handling operations involved.

Another object of the present invention is to provide anapparatus forunloading and transporting a vehicle from a transporting vessel atdockside and which utilizes a tray or vehicle hoisting platform which iscarried by hoisting cables that do not require attachment and removaleach time the platform is used to unload a vehicle, thereby eliminatingthe need for any men to attach and remove wheel hooks and the like.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus havinga hoisting platform of the aforementioned character which includes wheelsupports thereon for engaging and restraining a pair of wheels of thevehicle so that the vehicle is automatically held on the hoistingplatform during unloading, and which supports automatically release thevehicle when the platform is brought to rest upon the flat surface ofthe dock. With this arrangement, it is unnecessary to utilize anyauxiliary equipment for securing the automobile on the platform.

A related object of the invention is to provide wheel supports of thecharacter just mentioned which include wheel stops which arelongitudinally adjustable so that various diameters of tires can beaccommodated by the wheel supports. This permits various types ofvehicles to be carried while yet providing a means for preventingundesired forward and rearward rolling of the vehicle rear wheels duringhoisting.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hoisting platform of theaforementioned character which can be lowered onto the dock with one endresting upon a beam or the like to tilt the platform so that the vehiclecan roll off the platform of its own weight once its hand brake isreleased. This arrangement eliminates any need for manually pushing andmanhandling the vehicle off the platform for transport to its parkingarea.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tray or hoisting platform for useaccording to the present invention, the conventional hoisting cables,spider gear, and hoisting boom being omitted for brevity;

FIG. 2. is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1 and showing a wheel support in its raised position;

FIG. 3 is a view identical to FIG. 2. except that the wheel support \isshown in its lowered or depressed position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail view of the area. indicated by the numeral5 in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated an apparatus 10 forunloading a vehicle from a transporting vessel at dockside. Theapparatus 10 comprises, generally, an elongated, substantiallyrectangular tray or hoisting platform 12 for supporting a vehicle duringhoisting, and a pair of depressable wheel supports 14 at the rearwardextremity of the platform 12 for maintaining the vehicle in positionupon the platform 12 during hoisting.

The platform 12 is fabricated of steel channels, I beams, plates andexpanded metal sections which are cut away and otherwise fitted togetherat their junctions in welded relation to provide a structurally rigidhoisting platform. More particularly, a pair of longitudinally oriented,transversely spaced apart channels 16 are welded at their forward andrearward ends to a pair of transverse I beams 18 at the rearwad end ofthe platform 12, and a pair of vertically oriented plates 20 havingtapered ends abut against and are welded to the forwardly located I beam18. From this point the plates 20 extend longitudinally to the front endof the platform 12 and define the dnner guide edges of a pair oftreadways for the platform 12, as will be seen.

At the front end of the platform 12 a pair of channels 22 having taperedforward extremities are welded at their sides to the inner faces of theplates 20 and are also welded at their rearward ends to a transverse Ibeam 24. Another pair of transverse members 26 are located rearwardly ofthe I beam 24 and extend through the plates 20 as illustrated. Thetransverse members 26 are each made of welded plate sections to form ahollow structure having open ends adapted to receive the forks of alifting jitney or fork lift truck (not shown) so that the apparratus canbe transported to and from the work site.

A pair of longitudinally extending, vertically oriented plates 28 arelocated laterally outwardly of the plates and define the outer edges ofthe treadways for the platform 12. The plates 28 are similar to theplates 26 except that they are somewhat greater in height and have theirupper edge portions tapered outwardly, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2and 3, to better serve as wheel guides. In addition, they extend furtherrearwardly so that each defines one side of the opening for a wheelsupport 14, as will be seen.

The horizontal platform support surfaces for the tires of a vehicle aredefined by a pair of treadways 30 which are each constituted of ahorizontal, elongated strip of expanded metal or the like which slopesdownwardly at its forward extremities to form inclined portions 32 tofacilitate rolling of a vehicle onto the platform 12. Each tread-way 30is supported in position by a pair of longitudinally extending channels33 which are welded at their sides to the confronting faces of theplates 20 and 28 beneath the treadways 30. The forward ends of thechannels 33 are tapered to conform to the configuration of the rampportions 32.

The apparatus 10 can be hoisted by cables attached to its four cornersof the platform and for this purpose includes a pair of transverselyoriented, short I beam sections 37 welded to the plates 20 and 28 at theforward corners of the platform and forming lateral extensions of the Ibeam 24. Each of the sections 37 includes a lifting opening or eye 35through which the hooks of usual hoisting cables may be disposed.

At each of the rearward corners of the platform is an elongated box-likestructure having a longitudinally arranged series of openings or liftingeyes 36 to accommodate the hooks of hoisting cables, the variousopenings 36 permitting attachment of the hoisting cables at a point bestsuited for the weight distribution of the vehicle being hoisted. Eachbox-like structure is formed by a welded assembly comprising a pair oflaterally oriented channels 34, a channel 38, and a plate 40. Thechannel 38 is also welded to the outer face of the plate 28.

The channels 34 extend inwardly through and are welded to the plates 20and 28 to define the forward and rearward margins of the openings forthe wheel supports 14, the other margins thereof being defined by thechannels 16 and the plates 28.

The ramp portions at thet rearward corners of the platform 12 are formedby an [inclined plate 41 which, together with its side sections, iswelded to the rearward channels 34 to form continuations of thetreadways 30.

A perimetrical ledge or stop 42 is welded within each wheel supportopening adjacent the base of each channel 16, plate 28, and channel 34defining the opening. The stop 42 limits downward movement of theassociated wheel support 14 within its opening, as best seen in FIGS. 3and 4.

Each wheel support 14 comprises a rectangular upper plate 44 which iswelded at its underside to the top of a rectangular frame constituted offour channels 46. A lower plate 48 is removably secured to the bottom ofthis same rectangular frame by a plurality of screws 50, as bestillustrated in FIG. 5. The channels 46 fit within and are freelyslidable vertically past the stop ledge 42, but the upper and lowerplates 44 and 48 extend sufficiently to engage the ledge 42 in theraised and lowered positions of the wheel support, respectively, asillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the raised position of each wheel support 14, the upper surface ofthe plate 48 is in engagement with the underside of the stop 42, and thelower surface of the plate 48 is in substantially flush relation withthe undersurfaces of the remainder of the platform 12, as illustrated inFIG. 2. In the depressed position of the wheel support, the undersurfaceof the upper plate 44 engages the upper surface of the ledge or stop 42,as illustrated in FIG. 3, while the lower portion of the wheel supportextends below the undersurfaces of the remainder of the platform 12.These two positions of the wheel support constitute the wheel releaseand wheel hold positions thereof, as will be seen.

A pair of elongated angles 52 are welded at opposite longitudinal edgesof each of the upper plates 44 to define slideways for longitudinallyslid-ably receiving a transverse, horizontally oriented plate 54. Asbest seen in FIG. 4, the plate 54 is welded to the lower edge of arearwardly and upwardly inclined wheel chock or stop 56. The wheel stop56 can be locked in one of a plurality of longitudinal positions bymeans of a pin 58 which is disposable through an opening in a horizontalflange of the wheel stop 42 and through a vertically aligned one of aplurality of longitudinally arranged openings 60 provided in the upperplate 44 of the wheel stop.

As best viewed in FIG. 4, the wheel openings within which the wheelsupports 14 are located are closed by the wheel supports when theplatform 12 is resting upon the fiat dock surface, as seen in FIG. 1.That is, the upper plate 44 is at that time flush with the upper surfaceof the associated treadway 30. This releases the rear wheels of avehicle for rolling movement over the treadways 30. When the platform 12is raised by hoisting apparatus, the wheel supports drop under their ownWeight and under the Weight of the vehicle to the restraining positionsillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The vehicle rear wheels, as indicated at62 in FIG. 4, are then located within the wheel support opening inenagement with the most forwardly located one of the channels 34 at oneside, and with the sloping face of the wheel stop 42 at the oppositeside, and are thereby constrained against fore and aft rolling.

Longitudinal adjustment of the position of the wheel stops 42 enablesthe wheel stops to constrain the wheels of various types of vehiclesagainst appreciable fore and aft rolling movement, regardless of theirdiameter.

The apparatus 10 is utilized for unloading vehicles from a transportingvessel at dockside as follows: the hoisting platform is first coupled atthe eyes 35 and 36 to usual hoisting cables so that the platform can beraised and then located in the hatch area of the vessel and in theeven-t that the hatch area is filled with vehicles, the vehicles in thisarea are first removed by the prior art procedure which utilizesconventional wheel hooks. Once the hatch square has been cleared, theplatform 12 is located in the cleared area and the hold men roll avehicle over the treadways until the rear wheels rest upon the wheelsupports 14. The vehicle hand brake is set and the plaftorm hoisted. Onhoisting, the wheel supports drop under the weight of the vehicle andcatch and hold the vehicles rear wheels in the wheel support openings.

The platform is then lowered onto the fiat surface of the clock, whichautomatically urges the wheel supports 14- upwardly into the positionsillustrated in FIG. 2. This positions the rear wheels of the vehicleflush with the treadways so that the vehicle can be rolled off theplatform after the vehicle hand brake is released. Alternatively, theplatform can also be lowered onto the dock so that the Wheel supportsrest upon a beam or the like with the front of the platform downwardlyinclined to permit the vehicle to roll off the platform of its ownweight once its hand brake is released.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that by utiliz' ing a hoistingplatform instead of wheel hooks, the men previously needed to attach anddetach wheel hooks are no longer necessary. Instead, the platform isleft attached to its hoisting cables and the vehicles rolled onto andoff the platform during the unloading operations. As previouslyindicated, the platform can be oriented on the clock so that the vehiclecan roll off of its own Weight, or the vehicle can be left on theplatform and removed by a suitable form of transporting apparatus.Accordingly, the present apparatus provides a considerable savings inmanpower and greatly facilitates vehicle handling during both unloadingand transporting operations.

Various modifications and changes may be made With regard to theforegoing detailed description without departing form the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the following claims. It will be understoodthat the claims are intended to cover both loading and unloadingoperations. Accordingly, the term unloading is to be construed ascomprehending use of the recited apparatus for loading as well, and ascomprehending a loading method which is the reverse of the unloadingmethod recited.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for unloading a vehicle from a trans porting vessel atdockside, comprising:

an elongated platform for supporting a vehicle on hoisting of saidplatform, said platform having a pair of treadways at the sides thereoffor guiding and receiving the wheels of said vehicle upon rolling ofsaid vehicle onto said platform, said treadways each including a wheelopening at one end of said platform;

a pair of depressable Wheel supports, one in each of said wheelopenings, movable under gravity from raised positions with the uppersurfaces thereof flush with the adjacent surfaces of said treadways topermit the wheels of said vehicle to roll therepast, to depressedpositions with the upper surfaces thereof below said adjacent surfacesto define wheel receiving spaces for receiving and holding an associatedpair of the wheels of said vehicle each of said wheel supports includinga wheel stop means longitudinally adjustable to vary the length of saidwheel receiving space to accommodate various diameter wheels therein;and

means on said supports and on said platform interengageable in saiddepressed positions of said supports and preventing further downwardmovement of said supports.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the lower portions of saidwheel supports extend below said platform in said depressed positionsfor automatic movement of said Wheel supports to said raised positionsupon placement of said platform upon a flat surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,060,027 11/1936 Butterworth187-852 X 2,605,007 7/1952 Gaynor 214-38 FOREIGN PATENTS 829,651 3/ 1960Great Britain. 1,019,427 2/ 1966 Great Britain.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner.

F. E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner.

